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Before Ruben Amorim was appointed, Manchester United missed out on the chance to get Thomas Tuchel, as the German manager rejected their proposals.
He was Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s No.1 option to replace Erik ten Hag, after the two had positive talks together over the summer.
Tuchel ended up signing as the new England manager last month, meaning United had to look elsewhere.
Now, it has been revealed just how close he was to joining United months ago.
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Agent Pini Zahavi told Die Welt that Thomas Tuchel had the chance to come to Old Trafford but chose to turn it down.
‘If I were Thomas, I would have gone to Manchester United. He had the opportunity. Everything was prepared, the deal was basically done,’ he said.
Robert Lewandoski, Christopher Nkunku and former United academy graduate Angel Gomes are just some of Zahavi’s currrent clients.
The Israeli agent went on to explain that Tuchel must work on his diplomacy skills, since he has fallen out with multiple clubs that he has managed.
The 51-year-old is known as an eccentric personality in the football world and clashed with Todd Boehly at Chelsea, which led to his sacking in September 2022.
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‘Thomas has a spark of genius in him.
‘But in today’s football you have to be wise and a diplomat. He will have to learn that,’ Zahavi said.
Sir Jim held informal conversations with Tuchel in Monaco last summer, but the German was not convinced by the club’s transfer policy.
He believed that the board had too much involvement in the decisions, similar to the dynamic at Chelsea.
Tuchel’s concerns may have been justified, as United made sure to hire Amorim as a head coach rather than a manager.
His predecessor Ten Hag held the latter role, which Sir Jim was clearly hesitant to hand out again.
Ultimately, this may have been the reason why Tuchel never agreed to move to United.
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